What is the purpose of the doctype declaration in an HTML document?

The doctype (short for "document type declaration") is a declaration that appears at the top of an HTML or XHTML document, before the html element. Its purpose is to inform the web browser which version of HTML or XHTML is being used in the document, so the browser can render the content correctly.

The doctype tells the browser which version of the markup language is being used, such as HTML 4.01 or XHTML 1.1, and what its associated Document Type Definition (DTD) is. A DTD is a set of rules that defines the structure and elements of a document written in a markup language.

For example, the doctype declaration for an HTML5 document looks like this:

<!DOCTYPE html>

The doctype declaration is also important for web developers, as it helps them ensure that their code adheres to the correct standards and will be rendered correctly across different web browsers.

In summary, the doctype declaration is used to inform the browser what version of HTML or XHTML the document is written in and what the associated DTD is, so the browser can render the content correctly and developers can ensure that the code adheres to the correct standards.